Bismarck

"Bring it here quickly."

He put down the file in his hand, turned around and took the materials from Redel's hand, and read them with relish. Moreover, the look on his face when he read the report was as if he saw the glory of a heroic epic!

"Great! It's the pride of our empire!"

"I'll have Goebbels take a good look at this!"

Scribbling with his signature pencil, Mustache couldn't help but admire it.

The telegrams, which were quite thick after being nailed together, wrote with their own weight the heaviness of the battlefield and the vicissitudes of the fleet along the way. After all, no matter from which angle, the "great breakout battle" of the Lütjens fleet can be called a heroic epic.

The "Great Breakout" of the Greater German Empire's Eastern Expeditionary Fleet began on April 26 when it left Socotra Island and ended on June 18 when Lütjens led his troops to Norway in triumph.

In 32500 days, Lütjens and his warship girls sailed through the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean, covering a distance of nearly kilometers - this is even more than another famous naval fleet expedition forty years ago, the long voyage of the Russian Second Pacific Fleet commanded by Lieutenant General Rozhdestvensky during the Russo-Japanese War, which was nearly kilometers farther! Compared with the Russian fleet that mobilized a large number of troops and went on an expedition, and finally the division was exhausted and the whole army was annihilated, the "Great Breakout" that defeated the two Allied garrisons and the Indian Ocean Fleet on the Long March is undoubtedly more worthy of the name of a heroic epic!

(The expedition of Rozhdestvensky's fleet was said to be 18000 nautical miles/33300 kilometers - this may refer to the entire distance of the expedition. In fact, by the time of the sinking of the Battle of Tsushima, the actual voyage of the Tsarist Russian fleet was about 32280 kilometers/17420 nautical miles)

Seeing the Führer concentrating on reading the battle report, Raeder felt uncomfortable, especially when he heard that the Führer was going to call Goebbels over again.

But he still waited patiently in front of his desk.

You know, there was another document tucked inside the memorandum in Redel's hand.

This document was found in the diplomacy and news of a neutral country - news reports on the launching of two Surrey-class heavy cruisers (GB SURREY), a new class of heavy cruisers of the British Royal Navy.

The Surrey class cruiser is the successor model of the Norfolk class cruiser. While maintaining the main gun firepower of eight 203 mm main guns, the maximum speed was reduced to 31 knots by reducing two boilers. The defense was greatly enhanced while maintaining a displacement of just over 146 tons - the main side armor reached 57 mm! The top horizontal armor also reached 76- mm!

Although before and after the signing of the London Treaty in 1936, this relatively good design had been abandoned by the British due to insufficient cruiser tonnage and economic reasons. However, now that both cruisers and battleships have suffered heavy losses, the British have picked up this excellent heavy cruiser design with greatly enhanced defense and restarted construction. Up to now, the hulls of these two new heavy cruisers have been built, and the outfitting project has begun after launching.

Although they were just two heavy cruisers, the Royal Navy regarded it as the beginning of recovery.

In a newspaper clipping attached to the document in Raeder's hand, the First Sea Lord Andrew Cunningham told reporters that the launching, outfitting and commissioning of the two Surrey-class ships was only the beginning of the Royal Navy's large-scale fleet replenishment plan, and was also a symbol that the Royal Navy was about to emerge from the shadow brought by the "German evil spirit."

Of course, Cunningham would not openly talk about the German evil spirit. No matter what the purpose was, the government did not want the people below to know about the Warship Girls. Even Lütjens repeatedly warned his subordinates not to leak it.

Originally, if that was all, it wouldn't be worth taking too seriously - even a heavy cruiser with thickened armor would be no more than that in front of a battleship. However, from the perspective of a naval admiral, what Raeder saw was very different from what ordinary people saw.

"Marshal Cunningham said this was the beginning of a massive replenishment program for the Royal Navy..."

When thinking of this sentence, Raeder, who was also a marshal, thought of the difference between the combined shipbuilding capabilities of Britain and the United States, which were once the world's number one and are now the world's number one, and Germany's current armament construction plan that has concentrated all its steel resources on the army's armored divisions.

Even the third and fourth ships of the H39 Hindenburg-class battleship have to be left on the slipway halfway through construction due to lack of steel and investment, unable to go up to the sky or down to the ground - otherwise, people would really think that Raeder was a god. The sixteen SKC34/406mm main guns are not cabbages in the vegetable market that can be bought at will, let alone being so kind as to modify the firepower of Bismarck and Tirpitz.

Even without mentioning the decline of the main fleet, the authority and voice of the navy will be tilted more and more towards a "non-mainstream naval commander" who can independently blockade the Allied North Atlantic shipping without the support of the main fleet. Even in terms of time, it takes an average of two years to build a main battleship. Even if the head of state promised to "wait until the Soviet Union is defeated, and then invest in the navy on a large scale", the fleet in his hands will be inherently slower than that of Britain and the United States on the opposite side - whether it is for his own authority or the comparison of the strength of the German Navy and the Allied Navy, it is very disadvantageous to him.

Kumetz was a hopeless case, and Raeder knew it. But in this case, for quite some time in the future, the entire navy would have to do its best to protect Dönitz, a non-mainstream submariner - not to mention that if they only relied on submarines, sooner or later the other side would find a way to restrain them with their absolute superiority in military strength. Even if Dönitz gained the greatest voice and threatened the authority of himself as the legitimate naval commander, this was something that a generation of powerful tycoons and North Sea tycoons could not tolerate.

However, it is war time again and the enemy is so powerful. Raeder is also very clear that if he wants to maintain his power, he must ensure the combat effectiveness of the navy.

Now, there is a solution that can be said to be a last resort, which is to find a way to climb the technology! Since my fleet can never compete with the opponent in terms of quantity, then let my fleet compete with the opponent in terms of quality!

And, fortunately, as the German naval marshal, Raeder knew very well that Lütjens and several of his ship girls who "may not be loyal to the German Navy" were at least good at inventing some "little gadgets".

Before showing the battle report in his hand to the Führer, Raeder had read it once himself.

In addition to a detailed description of the breakout process, the report also mentioned the actual combat performance of a weapon called "Fanjiandaodan" used by the Allies in the summary of the breakout! At the same time, it also proposed a series of requirements and ideas for the development of new weapons. Even some of these ideas were speechless to Redel's critical eyes.

Moreover, as a naval marshal, Raeder had some understanding of some of the scientific research work being carried out by the top leaders of the German military and scientific research community - or simply some brain-exploring projects.

Coincidentally, this is also a good place to arrange Lütjens

Although he didn't like Lütjens and his "girls", it seemed that they were on the same side at least in terms of the overall situation. Besides, even if Lütjens and his men came up with something, he could just copy it and give the Kumets fleet a copy.

Let’s put the overall situation first.

Maybe, it seems like there is still hope...

After all, time is not forgiving, and when you get old, you tend to think too much. Redel's brain, which is already 67 or 68 years old, has begun to run wild consciously or unconsciously.

until……

"Redl...Redl?!"

"Ah... yes! My Führer, what do you want?"

Raeder, who had come back to his senses after being called by his leader, laughed awkwardly, but Hitler did not mean to say anything to him. He just pointed at the battle report in his hand and said, "I am very interested in Lütjens's breakout this time, and I am also a little interested in the new weapons they mentioned at the end... So, you tell them immediately to ask Lütjens to find an airport and come to Berlin for me immediately. I want to hear the report in person!"

"Yes, my Führer."

But he immediately added another sentence.

"Prime Minister, I have one more thing to report to you about the launch of new warships and new weapons and equipment by the United Kingdom and the United States..."

As he spoke, he opened his briefcase and pulled out a stack of documents. Among the pages of the document was a newspaper clipping of the launch of the Surrey-class cruiser. Raeder took the document in his hand and handed it to Hitler respectfully with both hands...

"Oh? The British are going to build ships again?" Hitler looked at it for a while and his face darkened. "What suggestions do you have?"

"Führer, I know that steel is in short supply right now. The battle on the Eastern Front is very important. Although we cannot increase the quantity, our quality must far exceed that of the British..."

"I'm glad you understand. You're right." Hitler sighed. He also wanted to build the Hindenburg battleship, but there was really no other way.

"I suggest that while the fleet is being refitted and 'they' don't have a good time to fight - it is estimated that it may take three to six months - during this period of time, I suggest that General Lütjens participate in the research and development of our country's new weapons..."

The admiral had a respectful look and a meticulous attitude. He reported seriously his views on the research and development of new weapons, as well as Lütjens' ideas for the next work arrangements.

Chapter 739: Return to Berlin

Off the coast of northern Denmark, a small and even inconspicuous torpedo boat was docked next to the battleship Bismarck. The two were connected with cables. The torpedo boat was like a toy in front of the battleship. The officers and soldiers on it looked up at this legendary super battleship with curiosity and excitement. Just above their heads or beside them, the dense bullet marks or bullet holes made people shudder with fear.

"Captain, the torpedo boat has approached." The deputy captain answered a call on the deck and reported to Lütjens quickly.

General Lütjens, his secretary Bismarck and the commander of the GR-186 Wing, Zeppelin, were giving instructions to a rear admiral and a naval colonel beside them. When he heard the report, he asked.

"Is the gangway down?"

"It has been released."

"I understand." He said, and then without hesitation, he told the people around him, "Okay, after all that talk, we'll leave first."

The group followed Lütjens down the bridge and walked to the side of the gangway. Because of the height difference, they could only step on the soft ladder to go down. It was not very convenient, but the navy personnel were used to it.

The general and the colonel made a final stop at the side of the ship, waiting for the torpedo boat below to be ready.

In addition to the admiral and other officers, the crew members on the Bismarck were most curious about the dazzling white in the crowd. She had delicate facial features, a taller figure than Bismarck, and seductive long legs. Even the most common military uniform looked like a beautiful dress on her. Everyone knew that it was the Zeppelin, but the sailors on the Bismarck had no chance to see her and could only listen to rumors about her in the cabin.

"Wow, Zeppelin is so beautiful." Someone whispered to the people around him enviously, "Those pilots are so lucky."

"What's the big deal? We also have Secretary Bismarck." The person next to him replied, and Secretary Bismarck's clothes were much more seductive than Zeppelin's. "I heard that Zeppelin was a big iceberg."

"Have it?"

Everyone watched from afar. Zeppelin and Bismarck were whispering to each other. The two beautiful girls were biting their ears like ordinary girls, with smiles on their faces. They looked like girls next door. How could they be as cold as the rumors said?

"Now the Führer urgently summons me back to report, and Zeppelin also has to go back to report to the Imperial Marshal (Goering), so we will board the plane now. And Bonte is also seriously injured now, and he will go to the Naval Hospital for recuperation in Kiel... Then, the fleet's return to Kiel Port and the arrangements for channel maintenance will be left to you - Lindemann is in charge, and Top assists." Lütjens said the last sentence after hearing the report below.

"Don't worry, Commander, we will make arrangements."

Rear Admiral Captain Lindemann of the battleship Tirpitz and Captain Top of the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen looked at each other, nodded, stood at attention together, and saluted Lütjens in a neat military salute.

"Then, let's go ahead by plane."

Facing his two capable subordinates, Lütjens returned a military salute seriously, then turned around and walked down the gangway with his secretary ship and the beautiful captain of the GR-186 wing, and boarded the torpedo ship that came over to pick them up.

Lütjens was the first to go down the ladder. The first thing he did after going down was to ask the deck crew of the torpedo boat to disperse. Everyone was stunned at first, but they soon reacted because two girls in short skirts were climbing down.

No one dared to disobey the fleet commander's words. Bismarck was still worried about exposing herself on the upper deck, but the next moment she saw the captain disperse the people on the deck below. She immediately breathed a sigh of relief and climbed down with Zeppelin.

Well, it is not very convenient to wear a short skirt on the sea, especially when it is suspended in the air. If a gust of sea breeze blows...

Fortunately, the wind did not blow, and they climbed slowly, so no one saw what was exposed. The two of them jumped onto the deck easily, and then followed Lütjens into the interior of the torpedo ship.

Compared with the spacious reception room and bridge in the battleship, Bismarck could imagine what the situation was like in this 1,000-ton boat. Once they, plus the captain of the torpedo boat, sat down in the conference room, it was already crowded.

The captain was a low-level officer. Seeing the beautiful lieutenant colonel and Admiral Lütjens on his own ship, he was extremely nervous. Fortunately, Lütjens noticed his restraint and kindly told him to mind his own business, saying that they did not need any entertainment.

Without outsiders around, except for Lütjens who was still sitting upright, the two sisters were already playing together on the sofa. Led by Bismarck, this unruly child, Zeppelin was becoming more and more isolated from the iceberg in private.

The fleet has returned victoriously, and there is nothing much to do now.

After returning to Kiel, they were ordered to go to the shipyard for a collective overhaul - or in other words, the whole family had a family meal. Anyway, the fleet had passed through the Skagerrak Strait between Denmark and Norway and entered the interior of the Nordic continent. They were under the close protection of the Norwegian Air Force and the Norwegian Navy's destroyer fleets. Not to mention that there were two ship girls, Eugen and Grape, staying in the fleet. In their own waters, they were not afraid of anything happening.

Regarding the whole family bucket of KanColle, Lütjens expressed calmness.

Besides, the girls under my command have really worked hard over the past year.

Let's take a good rest now...

---At this moment, the British Empire--

"The Navy still failed to achieve its goal of annihilating the 'evil spirit' this time. Lütjens let the tiger go back to the mountain. But it's hard to say anything about them. After all, the speed is a fatal flaw, and the Navy tried its best this time. Even Tovey was angry and sick... According to the intelligence collected by Wyatt of MI6, they should have gone to Kiel Harbor for overhaul. What do you think?"

In Churchill's office, Prime Minister Dechui pressed his temple, looking like he was practicing Taoism, and spoke to the person in front of him. Standing straight opposite Churchill was a soldier with a broad forehead, a small mustache, nasolabial folds, and small eyes that looked like the legendary murderer Jack the Ripper in London, who was a soldier wearing an air force general's uniform - the commander of the British Royal Air Force bomber force, Air Force General, Baron Arthur Harris.

Hearing Churchill's question, the butcher in military uniform with fierce eyes snorted coldly and said something that sounded bloody and chilling in an emotionless tone:

"Since they are in Kiel, our next goal is to blow up the entire Kiel Harbor!"

"Oh? This is in line with your habits." Churchill said as expected, "But now our bombers do not have the ability to carry out precision bombing, and there is no way to find their camouflaged shipyards and docks at night. Zeppelin and Goering have a close relationship. The fat man will definitely concentrate the main force of the Air Force to defend the Kiel Shipyard, so...what are you going to do?"

Churchill looked up and asked with interest.

"Don't worry, Prime Minister. Of course, I have to use some strategy to solve this problem!" The serious butcher said in his still cruel tone, "The weather in northwestern Germany has been bad recently, but it will get better by the end of the month. I plan to take this opportunity to bomb Berlin a few times, so that the Germans will focus their air force's defense targets near Berlin. At that time, as soon as the weather improves, I will let all my bombers go out in full force to flatten Kiel - even if I can't bomb their shipyard accurately, but as long as I flatten the city and kill all the people, I can make the Germans fear and depressed, and the consequences of economic collapse are the same, isn't it?"

"Well said! This is how we should treat those guys who dare to challenge our 'free world'!" Looking at the bloody butcher in front of him, the prime minister, who looks like a fat pig but is also a warmongerer, also showed a fierce look on his face: "This is the Royal Air Force, not the Royal Brothel. This is what the battlefield is like - do you have any difficulties?"

"I need to add some bombers, especially four-engine heavy bombers. In addition..." Harris looked out the window. Although the Battle of Britain had been over for two years and there was basically no need to worry about air raids, in the eyes of the two imperialists in Churchill's office, the fact that German bombs had fallen on London was a shame in itself! Harris's eyes were even more fierce, and he gritted his teeth: "Now some people are following the tone of neutral countries and the Red Cross, and they are accusing me of massacring civilians - so what? This is war! As long as we are the winners..."

"You're right! The victor is immune from blame - as long as we win the war, it doesn't matter what we do! Besides, Hitler was able to get Germany to stand up against us so quickly, which shows that it was not enough for us to dismember Germany in one war!"

After hearing what Harris said, Churchill said with some resentment: "It was not only Hitler who started the war, but also the whole of Germany. So the way to ensure peace is to take more and more severe measures to prevent Germany from getting up forever - Harris, I will give you as many planes as you want, and the production of heavy bombers will increase, so just bomb them for me! As for public opinion...you can bomb yours, and I will shut it up here! Do you really think that our 'free world' is so free that there is no control over public opinion during wartime!"

"Yes, Prime Minister! I promise to send all these damn Germans to hell!"

The commander saluted the Prime Minister, turned around and disappeared into the shadow of the window sill in Churchill's office where the sun could not reach.

--

The Berlin sky at night was filled with searchlights, and behind the thick blackout curtains, there was still singing and dancing.

"Cheers to the victorious return of General Lütjens!"

"Cheers! Cheers!"

There was the sound of clinking glasses in the Chancellery in Berlin.

In order to celebrate Lütjens's heroic feat of breaking out from the Indian Ocean, and also to cheer up the Third Reich dignitaries in Berlin, which had just been bombed a few days ago, and to win their continued support for the war, even though Hitler was always frugal, he still held a celebration party of some scale in the Chancellery.

Senior military and political leaders and business leaders in Berlin also attended the event out of respect.

In addition to Hitler himself and his girlfriend, Eva Braun, who was basically designated as the Chancellor's wife, there were Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Speer, Keitel, Raeder... and those military, political and financial dignitaries, whether recognized or not, who all came with their wives or with their "like wives".

Moreover, at this party, in addition to the formal announcement of Lütjens' appointment to the position of director of military research at the German national scientific research institution "Kaiser Wilhelm Society", the enthusiastic mustache man personally announced that he would create a higher medal above the Diamond Knight's Iron Cross and award it to Lütjens.

At that moment, everyone, including Lütjens, was stunned.

Hitler himself announced the award of the Golden Knight's Medal! This is a great honor.

Seeing that there was big news to be caught, the reporters and photographers who had originally thought that it was just an ordinary banquet for dignitaries when they were called by Goebbels, suddenly became like a pack of wolves that smelled prey. They surrounded the protagonist of the welcome dinner, Admiral Lütjens, who had not yet recovered from the shock of such an honor, and then asked a bunch of random and strange questions at once.

After finally getting rid of the reporters, a bunch of celebrities came to the dinner party with various purposes to toast. One cup after another was poured, and it was so overwhelming.

Poor Lütjens, a pure gentleman and a pure soldier who had dealt with the sea and warships all his life, had never seen such a situation and was immediately surrounded by powder.

In the end, Bismarck, who was following beside him, felt jealous and pulled Zeppelin, who was also attending the dinner, along. The two ship girls worked at full speed and finally pulled the already dizzy Lütjens out of the pile of skulls.

In the lounge on the side of the banquet hall of the Prime Minister's Office, Lütjens, who had been forced to drink several large glasses of wine at the banquet, was lying on the sofa, with a look of despair and speechlessness on his face. He looked at the ship cat beside him who was complaining viciously to her bestie.

"These voluptuous bitches are so shameless!"

"Alright, Bismarck, calm down." Zeppelin, who was comforting his best sister, glanced back at the person lying on the sofa, and said playfully, "I know you are worried about your captain~ But fortunately, the person is not lost, which is better than anything else..."

"Tsk..." The big lady Xiao turned her head away and acted proudly when her secrets were revealed.

Among these so-called German socialites, who is prettier than me? They are a bunch of aunties and grandmas. I was just standing next to the captain, and yet they have the nerve to come close to me?

Bismarck felt a little unhappy in his heart.

After hearing Zeppelin's words "At least the person is not lost", Lütjens, who was already a little dazed by drinking, couldn't help but roll his eyes speechlessly.

What does "It's ok as long as the person is not lost" mean? ! Are we such a casual person?

However, Lütjens, who was feeling a little dizzy, had no energy to get up. He just lay on the sofa, sobering up while listening to the two ship girls under his command complaining.

"But, Bismarck, you said that this banquet is really a bit extravagant..."

As an orthodox soldier like Lütjens, Zeppelin said that he was not used to the glitz and glamour of the world of fame and power. She did not wear an orthodox dress at the dinner party today, but a military uniform as usual, and so did Bismarck. However, when the two of them appeared with Lütjens just now, they still attracted the attention of all the dignitaries.